Car-control device.



H. ROWNTREE. CAR CONTROL DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED Nov. I5. 191s.

Patented Mar. 18, 1919.

H. HOWNTREE.

CAR CONTROL GEVICE.

APPLCATION'FILED NOV. l5. |915. v u l 1,297,498. Patented Mar. '8, 1919 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

" E Snug/14101 New l w1? @tbm/new www@ l ,UNITEDl STATES PATE onrfifcii.

HAROLD BOWNTREE, F KENILWORTH, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNO, BY MESNE ASSIGl\T1YIIIEN'.I.S,4

I TO THE WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE COMPANY, 0F WILMERDING, PENNSYLVANIA,

A conroaamIoN or rnNNsYLvANiL cnfcoN'r'noL innvics..v

Animation aiefitovembep i5, isie. semi No. v131,450.

To all whom it mag/ concfam: y f

Be' it known that LHA'ROLD -ROWNTREE,

a citizen of the States, residin at Kenilworth, 'county of Cook, State'of lli- 'nois, have madea certain 'new and useful Invention' in -Car-Control'Devices, of which the following is a specification. 1

This inventionrelates to car control dei vices, and more-'particularly to a lcombination-controller forair brake, car motor and car door.

The object of the invention is to provide a' car control device which is simple niconl struction and. eficient- -in operation and .wherein the entire operation of the car, that is, the motor,-.brakes and-door operating mechanism, is controlled from a single con 1 trol handle,

.A- further object of Vthe'iiivention'is to provide a iuid pressure control of the motor controller.. A 'further object of theinvention is to provide a device of the character described .especially adapted" for use in one-man cars, wherein r the complete control of the car and its 'operating parts are controlled at one point.

'A further objectpof'the invention is to provide a` pneumatically controlled car, that is, a car of which' the motor, brakes and -doois are pneuniatically operated, with a single control valve which may be posil tioned at any desired point on the car.

y therein-to prevent accidental misuse of the A still -further objectief the invention is to iovide a device` of the character descri ed having safety features incorporated device'.

- 'Furtlier objects o'f the invention will appear more fully hereinafter. The invention consists substantially in the construction, combination, location and relative arrangement of parts, ,all as will ling. valve seat with the iotary valve in i position :for applying thebrakes, opening the car door, and effecting' the movement of the motor controller to oi position; Figs.

Sjpeoication of Letters Patent." Patented l3y to 6, similar views, `showing the rotary valve inits other operating positions; and

*.Fig. 7 a section of 'the controlling valve on the line 7 7 of Fi". 2.

It is among -the special purposes of myprese ent inventionto provide means for the fluid? .pressure operation ofthe car motor controll'er in addition to fluid pressure control of the brakes and door operating devices, and to control the operation of the eontroller, the brakes andthe 'door operating de vices with va single valve.

Iii carrying out my inventionvI provide i means for piaeventing. the operation of the motor controller when either v*the brakes or thedoor operating devices 'areoperated 4l'. also provide means'foiinsuring the releasing .of the brakes, land the operation of the. .door Operating devices t9 close lthe doors before the control of the moto controller is effected. I also provide means forpreventing the' n'iotorman from slashing7 the controller from the oil to the full-cn posi-- tion, so practically short-circuting the inotor.- Under my invention the controller is moved from point to point, Vat the 'maximum speed consistent-with entire safety, that is, there is a time. limit to feeding up the controller Whiclrcaiinot be exceeded.

I also provide what I call a dead-man.

feature, that, is, ythe-handle' of the controlf valve operates against a spring when it is in a position that-puts the motor controllei'in running position and the momenttheniotormans hand `is vreleased from the control handle, the spring returns the control handleto the point where it not vonlyc causes the motor 'controller to return to off position but also applies the brakes., 'as will be4 hereinafter set'fortli,

In accordance with my invention, I exii'- ploy the usual Huid pressure brake operating mechanism, not shown. as the particu- .lar structure thereof forms .no part ,of the 'present invention. I also L"enploy a wellknown type of door operating engineA not 100 shown for the same lreason. The control.

valve ofthe motor may be of an desired type, but for the purposes of il ustration I liaveshown one form of door engine valve.

comprising a chest l in which operates a:

tight litt-ing piston 2. Securedlto the rod- 3 of the pistoii to niove therewith, is 'a valve' .4 which establishes communication between l) Man-iisjioio,

` cation with the common control valve to be .more vfully E so that port is equalized and the spring j gine 'gtroller `of any fto eithcropen or close the door` A-spring 8 interposed between the piston 2 and the end of the casing 1 causes the operation of` the opening action of the valve. The

chamber 9 on the right of the piston 2 is jaty all times in communication` with the source of fluid pressure v10 through suitable connection 11. opposite side of the piston 2 is in communiy hereinafter described. It will be seen, from the foregoing, that under nor- -mal conditions, the pressure in chamber 9; piston 2 to be forced toward.

fwillfcause the the Aleiit in the forni opposite to that shown,

(3 is in coiim'iunication with eX- iroug'h the port 7 to the cylinderof the eng'iiie to maintain the door closed. VVh'en,

lio'weveig pressure is admitted to chamber I 12, the pressure on both sides of the piston, 8 causes the piston and valve -l to move to y incommu'nication with the exhaust 5, and to pl fluid is operated to open the car door.v

Q 1 show a simple, arrangement to' elfect the "pneumatic control of the motor controller, "wherein r13 designates generally theA cony desired type of form, pref- 'aif'ably of the type of rotative control. This I 'controller need not he placed on the car plat. "foi-in' in the position heretofore considered essential on account of its having lbeen necessary to be in convenient relation to the cyli-nder19. `The cylinder 19 is connected bythe t. pressure pipe() with a main con- .inotoiniain as under myV invention the car lcontroller is -not operated manually but is operated pneun'iatically and therefore it is ,only necessary to have the main control `Vvalve 'conyenient to ythe motorman and the 'motor controller and its operating mechamism can `be placed in any partof the car where there may be room for'it, thereby relievingthe front platform and making vgreater space for the entrance and eXit of passengers, an advantage. that is particularly appreciated in the one-man cars. ()n shaft .111 of the controller I mount two ,p'iiiions, 15 and 16, pinion 15 engaging with theyrack- 18 and pinion 16 Aengaging with `tfhejraclt 17. pinion oran eccentric pinion `and the face 4 of the rack is proportioned accordingly. Tliei'ack I18 'is connected to a. piston 1.8a :that operates in` cylinderQG and rack 17 is connected to a piston 17 that operatesin the between ports 5 and 7;

, ..cler20 then `thelcontroller The chamber 12 on the in its extiemeoff position.

"theisein'and the :spring therein. `.pistons .and lracks have moved ashort disr'xhaii'stport 5, and fluid pressure is admitted tance, they will attain a 'position of equilib- OPGH port 7" ace poi-t G into communication with the pressure in chamber 9 so that'the en:V

.inaintalinfe` .said certain n ato position.

.Pinion 16 is a differential spring' in cylinder 20,-

trol yalve and the cylinderQO is connected by pipe 21 with thesource of lpressure supply. It will-be noticed on the drawing that also tha'tthere'is a spring GO inside the cylinder 20 which can be used if desired.

1f now fluidl under pressure lis admitted froi'nvthe source of shaft 14 through` its pinion and rack connections, will be held i If now pressure` .isi slowly; admitted to cylinder 19 so thatit gradually builds `up in cylinder 19, 4there will come a .point when the pressure in. cylinder. j19',1in. its vvaction on controller the opposing airl pressure After the shaft 14s,. begins toi 1 overcome pressure in icylinderi` 20 the rium, due partly to the decreased; leverage due to the `larger" average -diaineter of the pinion 16 over; the pinion 15.

It-l will be noticed pressure supply to' cylinof the.eccentriopinion lGas the part of the ...pinion that is engagingtherack more nearly s approaches the due partly onI i. po'wier.` necessary to furthery vcompress the .spring in cylinder 20. v It will be seen therefore that any given pressure in cylinder 19, asru'mingthat therev is a constant pressure in cylinder 20,; will produce a definite ,relative size ofthe pinion 515,- and account of the increased position of controller shaft 14: so that if a certain amount/of air is .admitted to cylinandthen the supplv shut ol' but not exhausted.. the controller '14 will reachand definite intermedi-y yIt is desirable that these variousinterinediatepositions should correspond to the running fpoints yor notches 'on the controller brushes, and in order to insure this I "provide'the-controller with the usual cam and pawl now used on thefmanually operated controller, andv its action is to tend to retard themovement of the controller away from the .Contact point by imposing additional work to be done, and then by means of the star surface of-the cam assisting the motion of the controller to the next definite ruiming point. -Inlthis way the action of the pneumatic cylinders and their connecting racks and pinionsifis always operating the controller on its Icontact points.. l' l Itwill be noted that either the action of thefdiiferential pinion or'the action of the would tend to cause the controller shaft 1.4 to take a' certain de- .fiiite :position in relation to the pressure in the cylinder/151i Sary towuseboth'the differential pinion and '.It is thereforenot neces- .the spring although itis advisable .todo so,-

gindeedl theoperationgwould be possible without either as if the supply pipe 30 Was shut oil' the expansion of the air in cylinder 19, if the piston tried to move farther, or

the compression if the vpiston tried to move backward, would practically hold controller shaft. 14 to a' definite position. Furthermore it is not necessary that cylinder 19 should be 'both larger and have a greater stroke than cylinder 20 as either one or the other would give the desired result, but I have shown thesediferent forms as either one orthe other or both can be protably employed. a

I show one form of single valve control forthe operation of all of the ,operative partsof the' car, but it will be understood that my-broad invention, as defined l; y. ,tl ie r4 claims is ,notA to. be limited to the -struc'tuie .show mas many y other types and fdr-ms' may port 29 connected to the cylinder 19 O f the differential piston motorcontrolling the car motor controller 13, through suitable connection 30. The valve 31 which operates on the seat 22,1and is turned by any suitablemeans, for example,-by the handle 32, is provided withvtwo passages 33 and 34,- the passage 34 being in communication, with the interior of the valvel chest and therefore with the fluid pressure supply port 23 and the passage ,33 is always in communication with the exhustport 25.l I have diagrammaticallyfillustrated the various positions of the valve with respect to the. respective ports 25, 26,28 and 29,' in the operative positions of the valve within its limits. In the first position, as shown in Fig. 2, of the valve it will be seenthat thepassage 33 thereof establishes communication between the port 29 andthe exhaust 25, and. therefore, the

motor controller is in its olf position, and is held in ythat posit-ion by the pressure on the piston 18 of cylinder 20. At the same timethepassage, 34 admits fluid pressure fromfport'23 through passage -34 to both of the ports26 and 28 with the result. that the brakes arein application, and pressure flowsthrough connection 27 to chamber 12 of thevalve. ljand the spring iny chamber 12 holdszthe valvein theposi-tion shown so that fluid pressure passes through port 6 to maintain-.th door in its open positepn. The rotation ofy the valve 31 clockwise to its next position, as indica-ted by the second position, Fig. 3, still keeps the port 29 in munication with exhaust port 25 throughpassage 33,' and also opens communication between port 26 and the exhaust so that the door is closed as above explained, and the supply port 23 is still in communication with the brake port 28 to maintain the brakes applied. Further clockwise rotation of the valve 31 into its third position, Fig. 4, places all of the respective operative ports in communication with exhaust with the result that the brakes are released and the doors are all closed, but. no power is on. Further movement of the valve 31 to final position Fig. 6, does not affect the ports 25, 26, and 28 ybut pla-ces the small fluid pressure ,supply port/40v in communication with vthe controller port 29 and thence tothe cylinder' 19 to gradually turn the controller in its on conditi-on. The car motorsy gradually get more current until the desired speed is attained, and then the valve 31' is turned .as

soA

shown in Fig. 5, so that neither the supply passage 34 nor the exhaust passage 33 registers with the port 29. It is obvious that if desired, the port 40 may be retained in coinmunication with port 29 until the maximum speed of the car i-s attained. It 1s evident from the foregoing, that with `but slight movement of the control handle 32, the motor controller is instantly turned to its olf position and the brakes applied. It is also `obvious that the brakes may 'be applied with or Without opening the door, but at no time can the door be opened without the controller being in its olf position, and

the brakes applied.

Attached in connection-with valve 31 and Y or. unconscious, for example, when the car f is goingdown hill at full speed the moment his hand is released from the handle the.

valve will automatically assume position 2 thereby cutting off the power and applying the brakes.

It will be noticed also on account of the air being admitted to cylinder'19 through the small hole 40 that the time limit is brought into actionand the controller .13 and its controller shaft 14 is only moved from one notch to the next with the time limit interval. This small hole, or port 40,

.can be so regulated in size that the motion of the car motor controller from off to on position, will be only as fast as the safety of the motor will permit, whlle at the applied.

. same time,

' the possibility .trol1er, he can not the power Vis on,

the controller will be moved back to oil position almost instantaneously.

With this device it will be seen therefore of accidents are largely eliminated. A reckless motorman can not burn out his motor through slashing the conapply the brakes while the brakes set. If he falls dead or unconscious the power is shut off and the brakes `removal of the car motor controller from the front platform furnishes an exceedingly compact and simple .control arrangement on the front platform for the riotorman.

While I have shown and described specific structures and arrangements as embodiments of my invention, it is to be clearly understood that I am not to be limited to these specific structures and arrangements as many changes in deail will readily occur to those skilledin the art without departing from the broad defined in the claims Therefore, what I claim as new and useful and ot' my own invention and desire to secure by Letters Patnt is,

1. In a car, the combination with a fluid pressure actuated door operating engine and a car motor controller, of a common valve for controlling said door engine and said Y car motor controller.

2. In a car, the combination with a fluid pressureactuated door operating engine and tion, and means for actuating said a car motor controller, of a common valve forcontrolling said door engine and. Said car motor controller, and means for preventing the operation of said door engine.

until saidzcar motor controller is in' its off position.

`3. In a car, the combination with a fluid pressure actuated door operating engine and a .car motor controller, of a common valve for controlling said door engine and said car motor controller, and means for preventing the operation of said door motor until said car motor controller is in its off posidoor engine to close the door before said car motor controller can be moved from its olf position.

4. In a -ar, the con'iliination with a fluid pressure aetuaited door operating eiigilic'nnd a `car motor controller, of a common means for controlling said engine and said cona trollen due to the large and free exhaust nor apply the power with the brakes and the car obtained by the use of scope of my invention as Vcontroller to its off 5. Ina car, the combination with a fluid pressure actuated door operating engine and a car motor controller, of a. common means for 'controlling saidengine .andi saidI con# troller. i

6. In a car, the combinationwtb fluid pressure actuated brakes, door'operati'ng engine and motor controller, of,l a common means for controlling said brakes, `door engine and controller.y

7. In a car,` the coinbinationwitli fluid pressure actuated brakes door pperating en gine and motor controller, Iof .a -,common valve for controlling said brakes, dooren-v gine and controller. Y

8. In a car, the combination with fluid,

gine and motor controller, of i a common valve for controlling' said brakes, Idoor engine and controller, and means for; preventing the operation of said doorY engine vand -the applicationa of said brakes until the motor controller is in its offl position.

9. In a car, the combination with fluid pressure actuated brakes,'do or operating-engine and motor controller', .ofa. common Valve for con-trolling said brakes, door en` gine and controller, and means for actuating said door engine to close the door, and tomelease -said brakes before said .,ro1it1oller is moved from i-ts ofl""position., y

10. In a car, the combination with a fluid said con-troller and means for automatically operating said controlling means to turn1 said.,

position Iand to operate said engine toopen the door when vthe man-v ual control of said controlling means is released. l J 11. In a car, `the combinatiori wiftli a.'flui,'d pressure actuated door operating engine, and a car controller, of a common manually operated valve for l'cont-rolling said 'engine and said controller, and means forautoi'n'atically operating said valve to turnsafid controller to its off position and to operate saidI engine 'to open the door when the manual control of said valve is released.

12. In a. ca"-r,'the combination with fluid pressure actuated brakes anda ca-r controllc of a common manually operated mea-ns for controlling said brakes and said controller, and means for automatically "operating said l controlling means to turn said controllerto its off position and fto a )ply said brakes. when the manual control otsaid controlling" means is released. 13. In a. car, the combination withy fluid pressure actuated brakes and a. car controller,V of a common manually operated-valve for' controlling said brakes andsaidjcontroller, and means for automatically operating' said valve to turn said controller to olf posi# pressure actuaited brakes, door operating enpressure actuated door operat1ng lgine, and

' tion yand to apply said brakes When the manualcontrol of said valve is released.

14. In a car, the combination with fluid ,pressure actuated brakes, door operating en- 5 gine and car C'pntroller, of a c'ommon manually operated means for controlling said brakes, door engineand controller, and

'means for automatically operating said controlling means to turn said controller to its v10 Off position, to apply said brakes and to operate said engine to open said doors when the manual control of said controlling means is released.

15. .In a car, the combination with fluid 15 pressure actuated brakes, door operating en-v gine and oar controller, of a common manually operated valve for controlling said brakes, door engine and controller and means for automatically operatin said valve to turn said controller to its o Y posi' 20 tion and to apply said brakes and to operate said engine to open said doors when the manual controlof said valve is released-` In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of the subscribing 25 Witnesses, on this sixth day of November, A. D., 1916. l

HAROLD noWNTREE. I

Witnesses HARRY ELLIS,

A. WONES. 

